The present invention relates generally to utilizing solar energy and pertains, more specifically, to a sun tracker powered by solar energy and a method to maintain a power solar panel in an optimum position relative to the sun as the sun traverses a solar track during the course of each day of consecutive days.
The sun long has been viewed as a convenient and abundant source of renewable energy. A more recent emphasis on the utilization of reusable sources of energy has prompted the development of more efficient solar panels and has led to a myriad of innovations directed toward providing a practical apparatus suitable for widespread adoption in harnessing solar energy. A great deal of effort has gone into the design and development of sun trackers which can track the sun to orient one or more power-generating solar panels in an optimum alignment relative to the sun as the sun traverses the sky during each day, thereby increasing the effectiveness of such solar panels.
The present invention makes use of currently available solar module technology to provide a sun tracker that is powered by solar energy to maintain a power solar panel in an optimum position relative to the sun as the sun moves along a solar track during each day of consecutive days, and a method for doing so. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Provides a sun tracker powered by solar energy to maintain optimum orientation of a power solar panel relative to the sun during each day of consecutive days; enables the use of a relatively simple and economical solar powered sun tracker in a wide variety of installations, ranging from smaller, domestic installations to larger commercial and industrial installations; increases the efficiency with which solar energy is captured for practical utilization in a wide variety of settings; compensates automatically for changes in the position of the sun in the sky from day to day and over season to season throughout the year, including changes in sunrise and sunset locations of the sun along the horizon, as well as changes in elevation above the horizon; enables the economical construction and practical use of a solar powered sun tracker for greater efficiency in a wider variety of installations, including even small installations where sun trackers heretofore have been too complex for practical use; enables solar powered sun tracking with greater simplicity for widespread economical use; provides solar powered sun tracking with increased reliability and exemplary performance over an extended service life.